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89 Runner Build


89runner

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4 hours ago, autumnwalker said:

Glad you got it sorted out! Do you think there is any long-term damage to the internals?

Thankfully it is a non-interference engine so no issues. Luckily I investigated before the cam gear flew off and took out other expensive stuff on the front of the engine!

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1 hour ago, TomWood said:

Thats awesome man! That Speedo is probably moving faster than it ever has 😉 

I have been going quite easy on it to break it in half properly but its never accelerated like this before! Not even back when it had 28” tires!

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I now have just under 200km on my swap and things seem pretty good so far. I’ve thrown one code for a speed sensor which should be a simple fix. I tried it on the highway tonight from fall river to enfield and 5th gear held 120km up the big hill no problem. No scary shakes out of my newly lengthened driveshaft with no balance weights. I have a couple minor things to wrap up and a few hundred more easy km to put on and it should be ready to wheel again!

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  • 2 weeks later...

I developed a pretty bad exhaust leak at the connection between the crossover and the downpipe while breaking in the engine. I reused the original downpipe thinking it would be good enough for now. “Now” didn’t last very long so I ordered a section from rockauto to make the repair. The quality was poor overall, the O2 bung was welded so badly a sensor wouldn’t install. Thankfully I didn’t need that piece and cut and rewelded the other bad seam. What I was really after was the flange where the gaskets seal as the original was missing a lot of material. I buttoned it all up and took it for a nice quiet drive. During this drive I developed a gas leak on my return line. I plan to address tomorrow with a new section of line and a union. 100km more to go and it will be broken in and ready to be put to work!

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I got the gas leak sorted out today so I could get out for a drive in the nice weather. Turns outs I had mixed up the return and vent line at the gas tank a while back but never noticed because the vent line was plugged up until the swap. Having replaced that section of the vent line it now mattered that the two were reversed. I was able to get out and put the last few km on so I could call it the engine broken in. I changed the oil again and took it past 4000Rpm for the first time. The exhaust is also much quieter now!

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  • 3 weeks later...

This past weekend I extended my front bump stops. When I first put them in years ago they were limiting travel so I cut them down but took too much off. I was able to flex so much that the tire was getting into the fender and the springs were going more negative than I would like. More importantly with the new engine I could flex so much that the drag link was hitting the oil pan. To get out for a run I put in some 3/8” shims but it still wasn’t enough so I added back in a section of what I took out previously. 

I had also left my battery holder slightly loose fitting so I could add in some thin rubber to secure the battery with. Dave hooked me up with a truck tube that did the trick. 


 

 

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  • 2 months later...

After running drill road and a trip to Antigonish and back with the truck it sat a couple weeks and I noticed some gear oil leaking on drivers side. I investigated and found my wheel bearing was toast. I thought I better check the the other side even though there wasn’t gear oil leaking and sure enough it was gone too. The press made easy work of disassembly and the local parts store had all the parts overnight so there was no excuse not to put it back together quickly.  

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I run Timken bearings in the Suburban axles, and I had SKF bearings in my Nissan.  After the Nissan front wheel bearings died twice (both under warranty), Speedy on Robie suggested SKF.  No problems after that!

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On 7/27/2020 at 10:27 AM, autumnwalker said:

Right on! The press is something not a lot of people have, but would make life so much easier.

It doesn’t see a lot of use but when you need one it pays off having one! Easy job with the press and my home made install tool!

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  • 1 year later...

It has been a while since I’ve update this! We moved not long after my last post, had a house built and built ourselves garage so I have been plenty busy just not with the truck. But when the cold set in and I could no longer do work around the a yard I decided to tackle some projects on the truck. The driver side B pillar was pushed in quite badly on the body when I swapped it onto my frame years ago but I didn't bother fixing it at the time since the door would catch and partially latch. I made a simple puller and used a come-a-long tied to a tree to pull it out almost an inch in the middle. I ended up using the hi lift jack on my slider to keep the truck upright as it took a fair bit of force to get it pulled out.

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The body mounts under the back seats were showing signs of rusting from the underside up so this needed to be addressed. I noticed some cracked body filler on the wheel well at the same time so I “investigated” it and found a lot of rusted out metal beneath it. I knew the wheel wells had been worked over before I got the body but had no idea so much fill was put in! I started on the passenger side cutting out what I needed to in order to get into good metal. I then did the same on the driver side so I make sure I would find good metal to work from also. The driver side turned out to be much worse off and had been welded and heavily filled previously. I also had a spot beneath the fuel door that had been bubbling for quite a while. Sanding it back revealed that it was rusted through the panel. Needless to say I dropped the fuel tank before cutting and grinding here. 

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I decided not to completely rebuild the arches and that opening up the wheel wells would be a better approach. I’ve actually caught the front edge of the wheel well while articulating and getting spring wrap with my 35’s and some day I may put 37” tires on the truck. I started with the passenger side as it was going to be easier (I think) and I could figure out my technique. You can use opposite side front fenders to make repairs which is a good thing since there are little to no options other than fiberglass quarters for these trucks. I didn’t want to recreate the dog leg at the fender lip but also didn’t want two thin pieces of metal to come together at a 90 so I welded a piece of 1/4” round stock around the edge of the opening to add strength and make welding easier. I pre shaped the round stock and fine tuned as I welded to the outer fender. Then I trimmed back the inner fender and welded it to the round stock. The finished product leaves no where for mud and water to sit. For the area below the gas door I just cut it out and used a piece of similar profile off of a parts truck to repair. 

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On 2/6/2022 at 9:19 PM, SQRLPWR said:

hey Paul, good to hear you got your house built. 

that side pulled out really nicely, and good job on the rust repair. 

are you managing to take the 4runner out on many tours near your new place?

I’m very happy with the b pillar. I can’t see straight out now which is nice! Only got out a couple times in the past year just busy with house, garage and property. The lot was all trees when we started. The truck has pulled the tractor out multiple times though and with double low I can let the truck pull and drive the tractor out then jump off and back in the truck, solo recovery haha. 
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12 hours ago, autumnwalker said:

Looks really good! Unfortunate you found so much "previous work" - but you're getting through it.

I got the whole body super cheap and knew it had issues. I just put off dealing with this one!

7 hours ago, TomWood said:

Looks like some good progress has been made there. Also congrats on building the house and shop, always nice to get something no one else has lived in 🙂

Thanks Tom. Technically we “ordered” a house because we went the prefab route but we did design the garage and built alot of it ourselves. 

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